A1GP Correction

On February 27, 2007, I wrote on this blog about a story I had heard from the Team USA at the A1Gp held in Durban. Since then, I received the letter below from Peter Burroughes from Team A1 South Africa......

"I have been asked to provide you with information that we hope will assure you that there was no safety breach at the A1GP in Durban concerning Team USA's Jonathan Summerton.

The Motorsport South Africa-appointed clerk of the course, George Portman (qualified as an 'A' grade COC by MSA, which met the FIA's requirement on the day), confirmed with me that Summerton was able to climb out of his car and exit the track via a gap in the safety wall, where he was immediately attended to by medical staff. Subsequently, he was taken to the track
hospital for further treatment.

This can clearly be seen on the video of the race, which shows a Netcare ambulance on the scene.

To my knowledge, no complaint has been received from A1 Team USA concerning the treatment (or supposed lack of treatment) received by Summerton and there was no reference to any safety breach on either Summerton's or A1 Team USA's website.

The red flag was shown in error as a result of a miscommunication."

He goes on to say that I should have contacted him and not tried the A1gp staff in the UK. Seems as if a can of worms has been opened here, or should that be a "Pandora's Box"? I am getting information from both sides of the saga now and I am digesting it before I do anything more.

It seems that there is indeed an investigation around the USA accident and communication issues that the marshals on the day were experiencing. There are also stories that the USA crash period has been taken out of the streaming video which is available on the A1gp website.

There are a few agendas at work here and I am not sure who is right and who is wrong. I will keep looking into the issue though.

This has made me very curious.

I am also asking questions about Adrian Zaugg, the 'South African' driver for Team South Africa. More to follow......